This is SO important.

The internet giant has teamed up with the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) to offer a new feature to users who happen to look up the term "depression" in its search engine. It's actually quite simple — and pretty brilliant. If you turn to Google to do research on depression, the site will offer you the option to take a questionnaire aimed to help you determine if you could be suffering from the illness yourself.

Google explained their new initiative in a blog post earlier this week, written by Mary Giliberti, CEO of NAMI. Users who search for "clinical depression" will be directed to PHQ-9, which is a clinically validated screening test and was developed by medical professionals in order to help people identify their own symptoms. And while a self-help test certainly cannot replace a diagnosis from a doctor, it just might be enough to encourage someone to seek further treatment — and that's exactly Google's goal.

As the company notes on their blog, only about 50% of people who suffer from depression actually get treatment for the condition. "We believe that awareness of depression can help empower and educate you, enabling quicker access to treatment," Giliberti writes, adding: "We hope that by making this information available on Google, more people will become aware of depression and seek treatment to recover and improve their quality of life."

This is definitely an important step forward for the company, and hopefully it will help raise awareness about the symptoms of depression and lower the stigma associated with mental illness. After all, there's nothing wrong with seeking treatment, and people should always be encouraged to put their mental health first.

If you or someone you know is contemplating suicide, call the National Suicide Prevention Hotline at 1-800-273-8255 or text Crisis Text Line at 741-741.